This is perhaps by favorite version of Harley Quinn to date. I was never a HQ fan, and have always dropped interest with her after the reboot with HQ in 2011. However, this HQ, its very refreshing to see a HQ who is more serious and driven than the loosey goosey HQ we currently have. This Harley Quinn deals with a Harleen who has kids to look after, a history to get past, and a case where she has to use her skills to fight noir-film themed villains.

The story itself is pretty solid, but what stands head and shoulders above basically every other HQ title is the character of HQ herself. She isn't annoying, she has nuance that intrigues me, and how Collins and Murphy build this HQ from who she was to who she became was fascinating. Collins has some serious skills in this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.Art by Scalera with colors by Dave Stewart on colors, amazing as well. Very good fit for the WK universe. Overall, another great addition to Murphy's universe for Batman.

8/10 more

Action, gore, tons of blood. I'm in.

This is a great homage to the 90s of superhero comics, Jeff Lemire seriously writes some great characters and dynamics in different points in time. Great art by Zonjic, really liked the colors by Wands as well. The action in this series was great, and how Lemire and company moves the story is a very simplistic yet engaging read. Another great story in the world of Black Hammer.

While not as hard-hitting as the first Canto, Canto II still sets up a very engaging, emotional, and meticulously crafted story, carrying on the fairy-tale trope from its predecessor. Canto II acts more of a transitional arc to set up for the final confrontation between Canto and the antagonists, and takes its time to further develop and permeate its ideas and goals. It is splendid to read. The Art by Zucker is again, fabulous. Capture the full essence that is European-styled fantasy. The pencils, the colors, the composition, everything from a visual standpoint easily puts Canto II or the Canto series in general as the best of recent years.

But what rounds out this arc is the themes, the ideas, and how Booher conveys those ideas in Canto. Ideas about tales, stories, heroic myths of the past, why we pass them down, and what these stories and folktale provide to us, the present. What justifies them being passed down to future generations. Themes of sacrifice, comradery, and most importantly hope, shine like daybreak in Canto II, and it makes the story such a wonderful experience. Canto II does not disappoint as the sequel, and sets up a grand finale that I am all too excited to read.

8/10 more

I loved this. Tom Taylor and is wacky antics has always been something I have loved, and with John Constantine as his lead, it made for an explosive, action-packed, wild, emotional story. I said I liked the first DCeased because it felt more contained as a zombie story, well this is going to many spots, but I argue it worked just as well if not better. Like Snyder, Taylor used every ounce of DC lore and material possible, he made it a very well focused and engaging story while being able to go crazy and bonkers. Art by Harisine once again is amazing.

THere is definitely some plot left untouched by the end. But I think that is intentional, as I figure this DCeased storyline is a trilogy. And with the next story presuamble being about the New Gods/Superman/WW, I can't wait for what Taylor has in store in the future. A fun, well-paced, awesome zombie story that I think brought justice to John Constantine and the DC universe. more

Perfection.

Great little background story of Clown-hunter with some unique art by Stokoe.

Its both so underwhelming yet so suprinsgly fun at the same time. The big monster summer blockbuster by DC finally has reached its end, finally. There was so much things going on, all of it happening quickly, I had to take a break from the event because of everything. With that said, it had some very strong high points with great art throughout, of course balanced out with really bad points and a mess of a story.

What Death Metal and the entire Metal Saga boils down to really is if this type of cosmic boisterous event is your style. If it isn't, you will dread this like bland steak. If it is, you will love the freaking bonkers out of it. For me, while I did enjoy parts of it, lets just say I am glad its over and will never be reading it again. more

I actually liked this alot more than I thought I would. First off, new year, new Batman. No longer has his toys, now he has to go it alone. Dealing with the remnants of Joker War, Clown Hunter now is stalking and killing those responsible for the Joker War, and also HQ for being partially responsible for his parents' death. Some dude named Ghost-maker comes into town to turn Batman more ruthless in his crime-fighting, arguing that empathy is a weakness.

The first 4 issues of the arc were pretty good, nothing super special, but had a clear direction, clear themes it was based on, and gradually built up for the last issue. But the last issue was rushed, however, I felt it rushed in a good way. A totally unexpected ending that came out surprisingly nice. I liked it alot, I think this is Tynion's best arc on Batman yet. The art is inconsistent though, many artists are sharing duties, and it ruins the momentum that Tynion is laying out here. Overall, a nice thematic arc, introduces a new character, develops more onto Clownhunter, and sets a new Batman for future issues. Two thumbs up. more

Overall, this arc was solid. Liked the ideas, about legacy, about truth, about paths, but the execution was nothing that could elevate those ideas and make this a story I could fully invest into. Liar Liar at the end of the day has some potential, and her origins overall fits well with the themes presented. Art was alright, it was nothing amazing, but its wasn't bad either.

I like these past arcs better than whatever was before, its a different pace than what Wonder Woman was accustomed to under previous writers. While Tamaki didn't have a home run with Wonder Woman, it certainly was far better than past teams. I like this Wonder Woman a bit better too, still true to who she is but not as preachy as she was before. Altogether, not bad. more

This whole second volume, its just a disappointment. IT started off so strong, but fell on it face towards the latter half. This is a sweet ending for the Outlaws I guess, but its nothing special and certainly can't salvage what happened the last 15+ issues. Overall, while a decent issue itself, is a weak send-off for the lousy 20+ year career Lobdell has had in comics. Art was fine. The dialogue was fine. But overall, this was just such a underwhelming series. more

I am actually liking this quite a bit. Granted I never really read Hellblazer or much of the Sandman titles prior. But its fun with some snarky dialogue. Its nothing mind-blowing, but its intriguing enough for me to continue. Some people really don't like the art, but I love how Robertson is handling Constantine right now, its a style that works for me and this story. This issue is good, but its mostly just talking with some good violence here and there. It moves around a bit disjointed, but overall I still am interested where this will be going, even if the story isn't all that complex. Robertson's art is just amazing, love his style of pencils. more

Overall, its a nice, short, fast crime story. A soccer mom becomes a badass to save her daughter from a sex trafficking ring. It brisk, its keeps moving, but its overall a very simple and basic story. Outside of her family and her role from Soccer Mom to killer, we don't know much about April, her daughter or anything else. Faust focuses less on themes and and more on the action. Great art by Deodato, some very good pencils to detail the violence and action in this series. Its predictable, nothing fancy, but was fun and had a fitting ending for its run.

7/10 more

A great short mystery/revenge story of a tough girl getting revenge for her father, but leads to something bigger and much more complex than meets the eye. Percy is writing amazing stuff right now, and Devil's Highway is no exception. Its nothing complex, a former Army girl goes off to avenge her murdered father which leads to a lucrative sex ring across the inter-state highway. Connected by truck drivers, she dives headfirst in tracking this ring to avenger her father.

Sharon, the protagonist, is nothing mind blowing, but she fits well for the story Ben sets up. She kicks ass, and loves her dead, nothing much to see. Solid dialogue and pacing by Percy, with some great art by Schoonover. A problem I have is that the action isn't handled very well, something Schoonover might need to work on in the future. A sweet, short story, but sets up more to come.

8/10 more

This was actually quite excellent when I read it through in one read. It certainly subverts your typically zombie story, and it comes to a rather thought-provoking and warm ending for such a story surrounding zombies. The ideas and themes of this story, and how Parrott conceives this through his dialogue is damn I say it a masterpiece. His ideas on life, on death, on people's past and people's future., on family. His dialogue easily is the standpoint of this series.

Art by Bornyakov was great as well, especially the pencils of the zombies. Don't expect your typically zombie mash, because trust me, this is far from it. This story reaches new levels that I haven't seen before in zombie comics. It might be a little slow and dragged out in the middle, but reading through it in one go makes for an excellent experience. Highly recommend if you want something new, something different, something unexpected for a zombie story.

8/10 more

Eh, Maestro overall was a good story that gives insight on how Hulk became the evil dictator who was in Future, but its not as spectacular, intense and complex as I thought it would be. Art by Keown and Peralta is amazing, layered with some fantastic colors by Aburtov. The way Hulk became Maestro is while action-packed, rather anti-climatic and bland. His ideology is also kind of cheesy. It was a solid mini-series, and sets up more development to come. 7/10 more

This was both an amazing yet underwhelming finale to what was easily one of the best horror comics in the industry. The suspense and mystery of the entire series was amazing, but that only pays off if we come full circle with the finale. And I am not even going to pretend I understood what happened here. That suspense fell into just pure confusion. I really liked Lemire making the story increasingly massive in complex in scale, but he didn't finish off as great as he started. The ending felt rush, this wasn't enough to fully capitalize on what Lemire set out. It felt, stunted, like Lemire had to end it and it couldn't come together naturally.

Art was amazing, again, Sorrentino's best work right here. It a damn masterpiece from his art style, to the paneling, the colors, the lettering, everything about it visually is phenomenal. The ending just didn't hit home as much as I wanted it to. Regardless, a decent ending to a stellar series. more

What the hell was this series. It started off strong, an intriguing mystery that Batman needs to solve. A great set-up, by with delays, and very little substance keeping me invested in this story, add on a terrible ending, Ellis gave out by Issue #12. There are some great things to this comic, Alfred and Bruce's dialogue is excellent, loved it. The artwork by Hitch was splendid as well, and how he handles action scenes is so dynamic and explosive. But the actual crime story, it did not hold me all the way through. I basically stopped caring what the story was even about anymore, a major flaw many detective stories suffer from. The ending as well, what was that? It ended in such a stunted and anti-climatic manner.

This is sad considering that Ellis is on his way out of the industry for a while if not indefinitely. Great writing, had a good set-up, amazing art and action as well as great dialogue. But the story itself could not adequately keep me aware of what is going on, how certain details connected, it was too stretched out over a year with not enough recap for me to understand the story. Would recommend reading this in TPB, but I don't really recommend reading this at all. more

The ending was... alright. It was not as climatic and exciting as I thought it would be, however that doesn't mean that this finale didn't have some major strong points. Art by Ryan Lee, WOW, amazing. Cartoony style art for some ravaging horror is something I have been dying to see. I also was very satisfied with Lauren in this issue. Abraham/James, as well, great center character for this series. The problem for me was how the " eye " plot was dealt with.

It had both good and eh parts. First off, it wasn't as intense and scary as well as climatic as I thought it would be. Yes, it had amazing art and colors, but it didn't engage me like the last 2 issues. I also felt like Nolan didn't receive the closure he should have gotten. From being this loner type person, this ending did not do justice for him. However, Abraham's father, while creepy and crazy, had a very nice and methodical ending to his character and how that affected Abraham's journey moving forward. We now sort of understand all the delusions that Abraham's father had, and now understand more about why he was the way he is, even if he was crazy.

Overall, a good comic series, amazing art and horror, but a tad disappointed with the ending. more

The ending just did not wrap this up as clean and exciting as I wanted it to. The art is amazing, the psychedelic death like concept in the background was very cool to look at. But man, this was just so fucking rushed and sloppily wrapped up. For a solid first 3 issues, the last 2 just fell flat. How the FBI/Lopez story wrapped up, the Made Men story, the conflict between the Made Men and Myrick, everything just flopped. Done in such lousy fashion. If the art wasn't good, this would have been a AWA's worst series by far. more

I really liked this. Slow start, but with each issue is started picking up more and more, and it hit a killer ending. The story may not be all that complex, but the subtly in Tynion's writing and nuance with the world of Wynd and how it relates to one's identity is done terrifically well. Tynion knows how to do themes, and he did them excellently here.

Art by Dialynas, amazing as well. Great pencils to create this whimsical fantasy fairytale land. The only thing is that again, it was slow in the beginning, though that is more due to the fact Wynd Vol. 1 was supposed to be released in graphic novel format instead of single issues. Speaking of which, this isn't the end, and I am looking forward to what Tynion has to offer in the future within the world of Wynd. more

Its just isn't as good as I hoped. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, its just more of what has been already done with nothing exciting or new. Its all has been done before, and frankly with more interesting execution. The only thing this book did for me was introduce Jason to the DCAU. Other than that, nothing special. I like the cartoon art-style, very reminiscent of the television show. If only this was animated and not in a comic. more

The latter half of this story doesn't make any sense. Its switching too much to quickly that I can't catch on what its trying to do. Also, enough with the sex on the roof.

I want to drop this so badly, but I can't because it's Superman.

Not as strong as it could have finished, but I overall still think this was a great ending and a stellar series. While it may not have the recognition of being that next innovative Batman story. but it still is a really great Batman story and amazing visuals. Recommend.

This reminds me a lot of Tom King's work, what with the mystery and conspiracy theory going on. This was an amazing debut. Tynion has really come into his superstar status working on DN Death Metal and Batman with DC, as well as his independent work, latest of which is the Department of Truth, which Tynion plays with the idea that every conspiracy theory had truth in it.

Who shot JFK, Aliens, UFOs, Flat Earth, etc. Art by Simmons, oh my. His sketchy style of penciling together with inks makes it as if I am looking at the pages through a 1930's kinescope, very antique and mysterious, perfect for such a concept. The writing, crisp, quick, flows very well, expert lettering by Bidikar. A great debut by Tynion, hooked into the ideas being played out, and great visuals by Simmonds and company. more

*** Reviews the entire series ***

This was an amazing book by Spurrier, he has been on fire with his work in the Sandman Universe and independents like Alienated. This series, its focus on teenage problems, while it sounds stupid on the outside, how Spurrier handles it with such real emotion and touch, it really helps people understand why people feel, well alienated. This book strives to that conclusion to an extreme degree, but it gets its point across of what power does to people in times of their distress and problems, a commentary on not just teenagers, but everybody especially in this time we live in.

Three kids, all named Sam in different ways, are attached mentally by this weird alien who has really weird powers. Then what comes is a very emotional clasp of very irresponsible actions each Sam takes by abusing this alien's power for their own interests, echoing their own personal problems, shame and fears. When this type of abuse goes too far, what happens to the alienated and those around them?

Everything was amazing, the dialogue, the characters we are introduced to, the concepts and how they are conveyed, the art by Wildgoose is amazing, especially dealing with all the psychedelic elements like the dimensions and the alien, the colors by May was beautiful. The first two issue for me started out very slow for me and didn't really pull me into the concept of the series, was very casual. But when it hit those middle issues, the book skyrocketed and finished off with a banger of a finale. Highly recommend

8.5/10 more

This was a fine ending. Not great tbh, alot of what was built up, didn't really come to anything I found satisfying to conclude the story. Art is still great, loved the colors in this book especially. But yeah, it was not that killer ending I was hoping for, though I shouldn't have expected it given that Percy will expand on this world in the future. Solid finale.

Idk if it was the fact King was off the title or my expectations for an event titled " Joker War ", but this does not hold up to the amount of hype going in. All of Joker's planning and set-up all culminated in this extra size issue, and while playing with a really cool idea of the evolution of the relationship between Joker and Batman, is just muddled by all the fillers that happened prior and made extra-sized to catch everything and wrap it up.

All the stakes that were presented just felt like cardboard in this issue. It got wrapped up in like 2 seconds. This is the problem. You drag the conflict out to make it look so detrimental and intense, just for it to be a much more water-downed version of what it really is. I'll give it to Tynion, the way he conveys his idea through dialogue is amazing. His characterization of Batman, HQ, were great. HQ in particular, I really enjoyed how she was handled in this arc. But this issue was alot of letdowns.

Despite stellar writing, the confrontation between Joker and Batman was a letdown. Joker seemed to be a real interesting character going in, and he still has remnants of that, but his characterization in this arc just drops the ball. Punchline, for such a hyped of character, who seemed to have alot going for her, was just a forgettable sidekick. Clown Hunter, why the fuck is he even in this arc.

When the dust settled, this felt more like a transition arc instead of an arc that was supposed send Batman off with a bang. All the stakes that was held into this book, the identity of Batman, his name smeared by corruption, Batman's on who he is moving forward, the money, it all just fell apart. The art is amazing by Jimenez, the writing is great, but the story and its execution of the ideas its trying to display, it doesn't cut it.

The side stories with Punchline and Clown-Hunter were decent. But overall, as an event, this was nowhere near as big or important as it was held out to be. All it did was introduce future concepts and just set up things for the future instead of finishing things off, that's all this event did for me. Just because it isn't Tom King, doesn't mean its good. more